International Home and Housewares Show highlights colorful kitchen gadgets

Manufacturers show off colorful gadgets that help those with weak hands or make time in the kitchen faster and easier.

by Ruth Taber / Special to the Times

Posted:
08/15/2012 12:00:00 AM MDT

Gadgets in every color of the rainbow abounded at the International Home and Housewares show in Chicago. Ergonomic and silicone cooking tools were also big at the show. (Ruth Taber / Special to the Times)

Click photo to enlarge

The Swiss Pastry Roller from Kuhn Rikon lets you roll small pieces of pastry without overworking dough. A crimper in the handle pops out.

This year's International Home and Housewares Show held in Chicago's cavernous McCormick Place was a riot of color: pots and pans, gadgets big and small, appliances and cleaning tools all attracted attention in their multihued attire. Other impressions: Thoughtful manufacturers created kitchen gadgets aimed at people with diminished strength in their hands; the ever-expanding use of silicone for cooking and baking; and kitchen tools that really help in food prep -- without breaking the bank.

First, hats off to the Trudeau Corp. of Montreal for designing a new Stress Less line of products to reduce strain on hands and joints -- ideal for people with limited dexterity. Tools in the collection include a can opener, attractive salt or pepper mills and cheese grater -- all operated with rotating handles.

Its Stress Less pizza (or pastry) cutter has a large cutting wheel that can be used traditionally, pushing the ergonomic handle, or held and rolled from the top with a comfortable finger guard. Rounding out the group is a Stress Less corkscrew, which requires less leverage for an almost effortless cork release, and a garlic press, which rests on the counter, eliminating the need to squeeze by relying instead on body weight to press the garlic.

The entire Stress Less product line can be found at shoptrudeau.com which includes many other innovative kitchen helpers: 800-878-3328.

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Any cook may occasionally have problems opening jars if nobody's around to grip the jar while they twist the lid. Hamilton Beach's gift to solo players in the kitchen is its new OpenEase Automatic Jar Opener. The battery-operated opener (batteries are included) works on lids from 1 to 4 inches in diameter. Place the gadget on top of the lid, push a button and watch it work. The opener adjusts to the lid size. Press another button to release the opener when it's done. It's a tad noisy and not the speediest opener in town , but it does the job. $29.95, Amazon.com

Kuhn Rikon, an innovative Swiss company that merges outstanding design with American ingenuity, offered quite a few winning products at the Housewares Show. I was impressed with its Spill Stopper, (10- and 12-inch sizes) which really lives up to its name. Place the flexible circle over any pot 6 to 10 inches in diameter and walk away without worrying that your bubbling soup will run over. Almost magically, the Spill Stopper traps excess foam and liquid in the silicone lid -- no messy cooktops! $24.95 and $29.95, Surlatable.com

Another small but very useful Kuhn Rikon addition to baking tool collections is its clever Swiss Pastry Roller. Three-and-one-half inches wide, this compact, nonstick roller can be used instead of a traditional rolling pin for smaller pieces or scraps of dough left after cutting cookie shapes or creating small tart shells without overworking the dough. Smooth pastry and crumb crusts become a piece of cake when using the pastry roller inside a pan (and even up the sides). A bonus is the removable nonstick wheel in the roller's handle -- use it to create fluted or decorative edges on baked goods. $16; Surlatable.com and Factorydirect2you.com.

Mastrad, a leader in introducing silicone kitchen helpers, came up with a definite winner at this year's Housewares Show -- its silicone Splatter Guard. Small holes in a silicone circle held in a rigid frame allow air and steam to pass through while food cooks. I've been using a wire-mesh screen for years to protect myself (and my cooktop) when sautéing and frying. I hated the cleanup, because I was never sure whether washing removed all the splattered foods or oils. What an improvement! A swish through sudsy water after using it -- and a shake or two for drying and it's good to go. The 14-inch-diameter splatter guard has a comfortable, heat-proof handle. $19.99, shopmastrad.com

For professional-looking baked goodies, a new item from Chicago Metallic Bakeware is just the ticket. The Perfect Portion Petite Dessert pan is a silicone mold with 20 cups (just under two inches in diameter and less than one-half inch high) for mini desserts or appetizers. A slightly raised center in each cup yields a slight indentation in the baked item -- great for filling and decoration. Or put two together for mini sandwiches. With a steel reinforced rim, the silicone won't flex and thus does not require a rack underneath when baking. Silicone means easy clean-up -- swish in sudsy water and shake to dry. $16.50; chicagometallicbakeware.com

Chef'n, a Seattle company introduced, several helpful items: a SleekScrape Collapsible Scraper and Prep'n Go Folding Cutting Board. The scraper is a true multipurpose pastry scraper. The stainless-steel cutting edge -- marked in inches -- can be used for cutting, mixing, scoring, measuring and more. The inside of the scraper expands (it pops out) and is great for scooping, carrying food from the counter to the cooktop, etc. Its Prep'n Go Folding Cutting Board lies flat for cutting; two sides of the board curve upward to keep food on the board. Ready to transfer food or trash? The board folds, creating a funnel that makes it easy to empty into the designated receptacle. $14.99 for both, Amazon.com

I sliced a tomato at the show with a Nogent paring knife -- a 3å-inch microserrated, tempered molybdenum blade. The serrations on the blade are extremely fine -- nearly invisible to the naked eye. Smooth, effortless slicing with no tearing or crushing of the tender skin (as often happens with serrated blades) yielded perfect slices. Paring shaves a thin outer peel, leaving more flesh intact on fruits and veggies. These brightly colored Nogent knives, manufactured in a small village in the Champagne region of France for almost 90 years, are extremely tough and never need sharpening. The easy-to-hold handle is molded to the blade, which is guaranteed not to come off. $19.95; broadwaypanhandler.com.

And finally, for wine lovers, there was a new "old" cork puller in the Legacy Cork Pop. Bill Federighi, president of Cork Pops updated the original invented by his father more than 40 years ago, creating a new accessory that's fast and easy to use. Insert the Cork Pop's guarded needle into the cork (even synthetic corks), and, with your thumb on top, release pressurized inert gas from a cartridge. Voila! The cork comes out with a light "pop" -- like a "baby" champagne pop. One cartridge can remove about 80 corks. The Legacy Cork Pop fits all traditional and newer flanged lip wine bottles and has a built-in foil cutter. $28; Spec's, 655 Sunland, or corkpops.com.

Ruth Taber is a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals; taber.ruth@gmail.com.